WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Airlines could save at least $65.6 million annually while slashing
carbon emissions and cutting flight times by implementing new flight
paths at 46 mid-size airports across the U.S., according to study
results released today by GE Aviation. The findings of the study, Highways
in the Sky, come at a critical time in the debate on the future of
our aging national air traffic control infrastructure, where additional
investment is increasingly measured against proven benefits to the
economy, environment and the everyday traveler. Steve Fulton, technical
fellow with GE Aviation highlighted the results today at the NextGen
Ahead Air Transportation Modernization conference in Washington, DC.

GE’sHighways
in the Skystudy illustrates the potential for
significant economic and environmental benefit of near-term deployment
of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) landing approaches. Although
the study focused on 46 mid-sized U.S. airports, the data and analysis
supports accelerated deployment of RNP at any airport. GE’s study of the
46 airports concludes that deployment of RNP instrument arrivals would
annually save:

12.9 million gallons of jet fuel, or 527 round-trip flights from New
York to Los Angeles

$65.6 million, a savings equivalent to the full-time salary of 1,573
middle-class jobs

274.6 million pounds of C02, equal to the carbon absorbed every year
by 1,384,095 trees

747 days of flight time, or roughly two years and seventeen days in
the sky

“We are facing a serious global challenge as air traffic increases and
our skies become more and more congested,” said Lorraine Bolsinger,
President and CEO of GE Aviation Systems. “This is an opportunity to
provide tangible benefits to every stakeholder; responsible growth of an
essential industry, better asset utilization, lower fuel burn and cost
for airlines, greater throughput for airports and ANSPs, fewer delays
for passengers, lower emissions and noise for communities and reduced
dependence on foreign oil.”

RNP technology allows aircraft to fly precisely-defined trajectories
without relying on outdated, ground-based radio-navigation signals.
Independence from a fixed, ground based infrastructure, linked with the
inherent precision of satellite navigation and advanced computer
technology aboard the aircraft allow the creation of shorter, more
consistent and more efficient flight paths. The consistency and
efficiency of the new flight paths can reduce flight delays helping to
alleviate costly air traffic congestion. ICAO, the International Civil
Aviation Organization, has predicted that efficiencies made possible by
RNP alone can cut global CO₂ emissions by 13 million metric tons per
year.

“There is no reason the U.S. aviation industry should be tied to a
ground-based beacon system that was developed in the 1940s,” said
Captain Brian Will, Director -- Airspace Modernization and Advanced
Technologies for American
Airlines. “GE Aviation’s Highways in the Sky study clearly
demonstrates the tremendous benefits realized through satellite-based
navigation. RNAV and RNP provide benefits to all airspace users. For
controllers and pilots, we have safety benefits from reduced radio
transmissions and reduced controller workload and increased pilot
situational awareness. For the airport communities, RNAV and RNP can
reduce both noise and emissions – this is a win-win-win scenario,
everyone benefits.”

Underscoring the importance of realizing these benefits, the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA)’s annual aviation forecast predicts
that domestic air travel will double in the next 20 years, reaching the
1 billion passenger mark in the U.S. alone by 2021. In addition, the
total cost of all U.S. air transportation delays is estimated at $32.9
billion by the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations
Research.

In many locations around the world, RNP is already demonstrating
significant benefits. In Brisbane,
Australia, government sponsored trials demonstrated that RNP instrument
approach procedures saved aircraft operators 882,000 pounds of jet fuel
a year, even though only 18 percent of the aircraft were capable of
flying the procedures. Based on those results, Airservices Australia is
implementing RNP at 28 airports nationwide which it expects will save
operators nearly 86 million pounds of jet fuel each year.

GE’s RNP Services is an ecomagination
qualified product. To see the Highways in the Sky study, click here.

GE Aviation’s PBN Services’ analysis projected the benefits of RNP
deployment at 46 U.S. airports that either have existing published RNP
procedures or a significant number of arrivals of RNP-capable aircraft.
A total of six models of aircraft for 12 national airlines were included
in the study.

An average time savings of three minutes per flight was used to derive
the average operating benefit of an aircraft flying on an RNP approach.
Only direct aircraft operational savings were taken into account, which
includes savings due to reductions in fuel (accounting for 41% of
savings), maintenance costs and crew costs. Calculations were made using
2009 fuel prices, which have since risen significantly and can be
extrapolated into further savings today. Indirect operator costs, such
as on-time performance and diversions, are highly dependent on airlines
and were not included in analysis, making these figures highly
conservative.

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading
provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for
commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service
network to support these offerings. GE Aviation Systems LLC, GE Aviation
Systems Ltd, and Naverus, Inc. are subsidiaries of GE. For more
information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation.
Follow GE on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation
and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/GEAviation.

GE Aviation develops and implements technologies that provide
significant economic and environmental benefits to airlines, airports
and the communities they serve. GE’s PBN Services is a world leader in
the design and deployment of Performance-based Navigation and is working
with aircraft operators and air traffic management providers in China,
South and Central America, the United States, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and Europe to implement PBN solutions. Learn more about GE’s PBN
Services at: www.naverus.com.